What impact has the resurrection made in the world? Or, more to the point: What difference does the resurrection make in your life?
If you want to see the impact the resurrection can make, look at the life of Simon Peter. The only way an uneducated, rural fisherman could become the leader of global revolution is because he was transformed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you read through the Gospel accounts, Peter’s spiritual journey was filled with ups and downs. His first reaction to Jesus was to think he was too sinful and that Jesus ought to leave (Lk. 5:4-11). Later, he steps out of the boat in a storm to walk towards Jesus on the water – only to get distracted and start sinking (Mt. 14:28-33). Peter is the first one to identify Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God – but soon after he is rebuked for trying to stop Jesus’ mission (Mt. 16:16-23). Then, right before Jesus is arrested, Peter says he’ll die with Jesus – only to deny him three times that night (Mt. 26:31-35).
How could this man have ever gotten his act together to become the bold leader we see in the book of Acts?! Peter’s transformation only happened after Jesus rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit had filled his life.
The book of Acts records that three times Peter was arrested, and three times he does not waiver in his faith or in his confession of Christ. We also read five of Peter’s sermons, each one proclaiming the resurrection. Each one serves as a powerful testimony to Peter’s transformation. The last message recorded is in Acts 10, to a group of Gentiles who want to hear about Jesus.
“As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” | Acts 10:36-43
Peter recounts how the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ was originally a message sent to the people of Israel. But God has made it clear to Peter that God shows no partiality. Any person from any nation who fears the Lord God and does what is right in God’s eyes is acceptable to him. Jesus Christ is Lord of all – he is Lord over heaven and earth, and all people on the earth. And there is peace with God through him (vs. 36).
Peter goes on to say that the account of Jesus’ life was well known at that point across the Roman world. He reminds them of all that had taken place in Galilee and across Judea, beginning with John the Baptist and leading to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth was not just a teacher – he was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, filled with the power of God to do good, heal, and release people from the oppression of the devil. God was with Jesus in all that he did. In fact, Jesus was the Son of God – God himself in human form, living among us (Jn. 1:14). Peter says that he and the Apostles are witnesses of all that Jesus did in the Judean countryside and the capital of Jerusalem. And although Jewish rulers conspired with the Romans to have him crucified, hanging him on a tree – this was all the plan of God (vv. 37-39).
As Jesus himself predicted on multiple occasions, three days after his death and burial, God raised him back to life. Jesus appeared in bodily form – not to all people – but to those disciples who were chosen by God to be his first witness. Those who saw Jesus after he had risen from the dead, talked to him, touched him, ate and drank with him. For 40 days Jesus appeared to his disciples before ascending back into heaven (vv. 40-41).
Why does Peter draw attention to the fact that Jesus only appeared to certain disciples? Why didn’t Jesus appear to all people? Why didn’t Jesus just stay on earth and prove himself to all people? First, seeing is not always believing. People don’t resist trusting in Christ because of a lack of evidence, but because of a sinful heart. A skeptical heart can always find excuses. God wants his followers to have faith (Jn. 20:29). Second, Jesus appeared to those first witnesses so they could testify to what they had seen and what God had done in their lives. God’s plan is to use his disciples to spread the transforming message of the resurrection. This testimony has spread down to you and I, and now you and I have the privilege of being witnesses to Christ’s resurrection also.
In his closing, Peter says he and the apostles were commanded to herald this good news to all people, to testify that Jesus Christ is the Messiah – the one appointed by God to be the Judge of all people, those living and those dead. All people will stand before Jesus to give an account for their life – for their faith and their actions. This message of transformation was not some new, cooked up idea. Peter says that the prophets of the Old Testament – writings dating back over a thousand years – testified about the coming Messiah. Through belief in the name of Jesus – those who have faith in him receive the complete forgiveness of all our sins (vv. 42-43).
What a profound summary of the gospel and testimony of Peter’s new life! What transformed Peter was not his training, experience, his courage, passion, good intentions – it was the resurrection of Jesus filling him by the Holy Spirit. The changed life of this Galilean fisherman is a living, breathing testimony to the transforming power of Christ’s resurrection!
The reality is that without a Savior, we will all face judgment from a holy God. But Jesus lived a perfect life on our behalf. He died as our substitute – soaking up the punishment of death. He rose from the dead – not only proving he was the Son of God – but raising us to new life with him. We are spiritually born again now, and one day we will be raised up to an eternal life of glory in God’s presence. Jesus rescues and transforms us because he stood in our place, he was our substitute.
“Jesus was our obedience substitute during his life, our punishment substitute in his death, and our rebirth substitute in his resurrection. When we become united with Jesus, his life of obedience, his painful death, and his resurrection into glorious power are all credited to us. When someone becomes a Christian, a spiritually dead person is united with a life-giving one. His resurrection produces a resurrection in us. We are connected to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Our Christian lives can be a daily experience of sharing in the power of Christ’s resurrection.” – Adrian Warnock, Raised with Christ
How about you? Has your life been transformed? Come to Christ. Fall down before him. Confess your need for a Savior. Trust in his life, death, and resurrection. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and be transformed. Be made new. Let him rewrite your story.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” | 1 Peter 1:3-4
For more on this theme in the life of Peter, you can listen to the message Transformed by the Resurrection.
0 Comments